Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Inner Beings ❯ The Rules of the Game ( Prologue )

A/N: This is my first published fanfic story, so please judge lightly. Savor, read, and enjoy this fic. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers, just the characters I created myself.

Prologue - The Rules of the Game

The four original Slayers gang was sitting by the fire, having just eaten a hearty dinner. When Lina assigned the watches, she caught a look of loneliness in Amelia's eyes. Concerned for her close friend, she asked her, "What's the matter Amelia? You aren't your usual happy-go-lucky self." Amelia sighed and looked up at Lina. "Oh, it's nothing too important, to you anyway. I just had a really bad dream last night and I don't want to have it again tonight." Lina was surprised that the justice-loving princess had a bad dream for once and decided to interrogate the girl further. "Want to talk about it? You're like a little sister to me, you know, I worry about you."

Amelia, completely missing Lina's strange behavior, replied in a quiet and sad voice, "I dreamt that you all abandoned me because I was useless and a burden. Then, I wandered around aimlessly, unable to forget my grief, and collapsed in the middle of the forest. I could see a bandit gang sneaking up on me before I woke up." Amelia started crying at the remembrance of the dream. Lina looked at Amelia with surprise and shock. 'That's her version of a nightmare?! Geez, she knows she'll leave us eventually. Oh well. I'd consider myself lucky if I could call that my worse nightmare…'

Lina sat down beside Amelia and did her best to comfort the princess. "Don't worry Amelia. Even if we do leave you, it won't be anytime soon - I'll make sure of that. Besides, you know very well that you are royalty, meaning you have royal duties. In fact, by the time we leave you, you'll probably be over your head in mountains of paperwork and you won't even notice that we left." Amelia was only slightly comforted by this, but her crying slackened a bit. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I will have to return to my royal duties eventually." Uncomfortable with Amelia crying, Lina quickly tried to think of something to take Amelia's mind off of her nightmare. A moment or two later, she had the perfect idea. Even if it cost her some of her pride, it was worth it to make Amelia forget her sorrows. Besides, she would need to tell them this eventually anyway.

Lina stood up and smiled. "Hey guys." Gourry and Zelgadis looked up at Lina. "Come over here and play a game with us." Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia looked at Lina in puzzlement, but sat in a sort of circle around her. "Well, fine, I wouldn't exactly call this a game. It's just a basic Q & A thing so that you can ask me questions about my past. The questions can be anything about my hometown, childhood, personality, or things that you've always wondered about me. And before you ask, I'm doing this because of a certain event coming up soon and I need you to be informed. Does anyone have any questions about the rules?" Lina sat down on a log as everyone shook their heads. "Okay! Let the rounds of questions begin!"

A/N: I will post the next one tomorrow, regardless of how many reviews I get, but please review anyway!